The invention relates to a data collection apparatus comprising a portable data collection device, a supporting base arranged for receiving the portable data collection device and connecting means for removably locking the portable data collection device to a supporting base.
The portable data collection device comprises a data acquisition and possibly management device, and is intended for interacting with a base for recharging the battery and/or exchanging data. The portable data collection device can be a PDT (portable data terminal) i.e. a portable terminal for the automatic or manual acquisition of data, or, in general, a portable automatic identification device such as a portable reader of optical information or of coded information stored in a transponder (or also in what in English is known as a Radio Frequency Identification Device or “RFID tag”).
Data-collection apparatuses are known comprising a reading device of optical information, for example barcodes or RFID tags, which can be grasped by an operator and is thus portable. The data-collection apparatus may further comprise a supporting base arranged for receiving the reading device, when it is not in use. The supporting base may comprise a battery-charging device that supplies batteries with which the reading device is provided. Alternatively, if the battery-charging device is contained in the reading device, the supporting base comprises a supply circuit for the battery charger. The reading device can thus assume a use configuration in which it is grasped by the user to acquire the optical information, or the RFID tags, and a rest configuration, in which it is received and retained by the supporting base so that the batteries can, if necessary, be recharged.
The reading device can be connected to the supporting base by a radio-frequency device. The supporting base receives from the reading device, via the radio-frequency device, the read information and transmits the information to a computer host (also called “processing host computer” in English).
The reading device can also be devoid of a data connection with the base and be connected to a processing host computer by GPRS or WiFI or not have radio connections and be used for reading data until it is connected to a second supporting base connected to a processing host computer (for example, the GPRS device uses a first supporting base located in a vehicle for recharging the batteries, storing the acquired data, and uses a second supporting base, usually separate with respect to the first supporting base and located in an office, to download data).
The reading apparatus may comprise connecting means arranged for retaining the reading device in the supporting base so as to maintain the reading device in the rest configuration, i.e. to prevent the reading device accidentally disengaging from the supporting base. The connecting devices are provided in particular in the reading apparatuses that are intended for mechanical stress, for example inasmuch as they are subject to shocks and/or vibrations.
From international patent application PCT/IB2007/003539, a data collection apparatus is known that is provided with a portable data collection device, for example a PDT, (portable data terminal), which is firmly coupled with a supporting element in a rest configuration and is easily separable from the supporting element to change to an operating configuration. Magnetic connecting means is provided for removably retaining said portable data collection device in the supporting element so that, when the portable data collection device and the corresponding supporting base are installed in a vehicle, such as, for example, a forklift intended for circulating inside a company or more generally a vehicle intended for circulating on the road, can be firmly connected to the supporting base thereof whilst enabling the driver to remove the portable data collection device from the seat using a single hand. It is in fact sufficient for the driver, or more in general a user, to place a hand near the portable data collection device that is firmly connected to the supporting base, for a sensor device on the supporting base to recognise the presence of a hand and enable the portable data collection device to be removed.
In the case of an operator who performs itinerant work, the portable device for data collection is usually housed inside the vehicle, normally a motor car or a lorry/van, and usually the supporting base is fixed in the passenger compartment so as to be easily reachable by the driver.
A drawback of the reading apparatus disclosed above consists of the fact that removing the portable data collection device from the base is always permitted, even whilst the vehicle is moving. When in fact the driver needs to consult the portable data collection device during a movement, the removing of the device from the base is permitted and this exposes the driver to a high risk of accidents due to a loss of attention during driving.
Moreover, recently portable data-collection devices have appeared on the market that contain an increasing number of functions. For example, portable data-collection devices are already present on the market that are able to integrate data collection with satellite navigation systems, such as, for example a GPS (Global Positioning System).
In the latter case, usually the portable data-collection device is installed in an orientatable base, so as to arrange the data-collection device vertical with the display always visible to favour the display of road maps. In the latter case in particular, the driver might frequently consult the road map with the vehicle in motion and with the data-collection device extracted from the base, so as to constitute a source of danger for the driver.
An object of the invention is to improve known data-collection devices.
A further object is to obtain a data collection apparatus provided with a portable data collection device, for example a PDT (portable data terminal), i.e. a portable terminal for the automatic or manual acquisition of data, or, in general, an automatic portable identification device such as a portable reader of optical information or of codified information stored in an RFID tag, that is stably retained by the supporting base during movements of the vehicle without accidental unhooking thereof, is rapidly removable when the vehicle is stationary and prevents the driver from picking up the portable data collection device from the supporting base whilst the vehicle is in motion.
In a first aspect of the invention, a portable device engageable in a supporting base associable with a vehicle is provided.
In a second aspect of the invention, a supporting base is provided.
In a third aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided.
In a fourth aspect of the invention, a method for controlling an apparatus is provided.
Owing to these aspects of the invention it is possible to make a data-collecting device that can be locked to a respective supporting base at preset operating statuses that are definable by a user and/or connected to preset physical operating parameters. In particular, it is possible to configure automatically the electromagnetic connecting means, commanding the locking of the portable data collection device so as to prevent the user removing the portable data collection device from the supporting base when the operating state does not allow this.
For example, when the operating parameter consists of the speed of a vehicle with which said device is associated, it is possible to set a threshold value at the exceeding of which the device is placed in a “locked” operating status i.e. fixed to the respective supporting base without the possibility of being extracted. In this mode, for example, the driver can no longer extract the device with the vehicle in motion and is thus not subject to distraction.
Otherwise, when the operating parameter consists of the geographical location, and, for example, the vehicle with which the device is associated is a forklift intended for circulation inside a company, it is possible to set a geographical coordinate value as a threshold value, so that the driver cannot remove said device from the company premises.
It is further possible for the user to define a “locked” operating state independently of the value of the physical parameter by means of a graphic user interface of the device, for example to make an antitheft function, which is useful in the event of a temporary halt of the vehicle.